Leaf from a Kalighat album: Sheetaladevi: The Smallpox Goddess (recto); Durga (verso)

This two-sided painting, produced in nineteenth-century Kolkata, depicts two important Hindu mother deities. On the right side (verso) is Durga, the mother of the universe, while the opposite side (recto) shows Sheetaladevi, also known as Sheetala Ma or Sitala Ma, a folk goddess associated with protection from diseases such as smallpox. Though these two figures have distinct mythological origins, Bengali religious practice often situates regional goddesses like Sheetaladevi within a broader framework of Shakti, the divine female cosmic energy, most prominently embodied by Durga.

Sheetaladevi is sometimes linked to Hariti, a Hindu and Buddhist mother goddess. In this painting, however, she is depicted differently: she has four arms and is not shown carrying a child, features that distinguish her from Hariti's typical iconography. Sheetaladevi is seated in lalitasana, a relaxed, semi-seated posture in which one leg is bent inward while the other extends freely. Instead of a lotus pedestal, commonly associated with lalitasana, she is shown seated on her vahana (vehicle), a donkey.

While not depicted here, Sheetaladevi is often shown carrying a broom, to either spread or sweep away illness, and a jug of water, to wash away disease and nourish the sick. Her name literally means "the one who cools," reflecting her role in eradicating fevers. In Ayurvedic medicine, patients with smallpox and other ailments were advised to eat energetically cooling foods.

With its bright colors and bold lines, this painting exemplifies the Kalighat school, a popular nineteenth-century style of art that emerged from the Kalighat temple in Kolkata. Kalighat paintings were often produced quickly and inexpensively, depicting deities and mythological scenes, and were made with inexpensive materials for widespread sale.